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Biomedical subjects

G Spurll

Publications and source records attributed to G Spurll.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Hepatitis C lookback.

Hepatitis C was responsible for the majority of cases of posttransfusion hepatitis before the introduction of a specific screening test for blood donors. Infected recipients may remain asymptomatic for many years, but cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma may develop decades after infection. Lookback, or the identification of recipients of potentially contaminated blood, is now being conducted in many countries, including Holland, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. In targeted lookback, recipients of blood from donors subsequently found to be positive for hepatitis C are notified and advised to undergo testing. In general lookback, all patients who received blood before being tested for hepatitis C are advised to undergo testing. Difficulties with both forms of lookback illustrate the importance of vein-to-vein tracking of blood products, including the potential utility of a centralized registry of blood product recipients.

Blood Donors↗
PubMed1999

Targeted hepatitis C lookback: Quebec, Canada.

BACKGROUND: Since March 1990, all blood donations in Canada are screened for antibodies to hepatitis C virus (HCV). Because HCV may cause chronic asymptomatic hepatitis, in February 1995, the Canadian Red Cross began targeted HCV lookback studies. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: From March 1990 to March 1997, the Quebec Center of the Canadian Red Cross collected 1,750,846 donations, and there were 561 anti-HCV-positive repeat donors, from whom 3,196 blood components had been issued to the hospitals. Hospital blood bank directors were asked to test recipients and return results to the Quebec Center. One hundred nine hospitals were surveyed to determine methods and resources involved in lookback. The transfusion medicine service at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) developed a standard operating procedure for performing lookbacks and analyzed the costs and outcomes of lookbacks. RESULTS: As of April 1998, information has been received on 2329 (73%) of components; 1020 patients had died of unrelated causes, 590 were untraceable, and 353 were tested. Of those tested, 215 (61%) were anti-HCV positive; their average age was 47, and at least 53 percent were already aware of their HCV status. Few hospitals had received any additional resources to perform lookbacks. At the RVH, lookback on 182 components resulted in the identification of nine seropositive recipients, average age 70, who did not previously know their HCV status; four of these patients had abnormal alanine aminotransferase levels. The cost of lookback per newly diagnosed case of HCV was estimated at $2727 (US) for the Quebec Center and $6014 (US) for the RVH. CONCLUSION: Targeted lookback in the province of Quebec on 3196 components has resulted in the identification of 101 seropositive recipients who did not previously know their HCV status.

Blood Banks↗
PubMed1996

PEL, a 'new' high-frequency red cell surface antigen.

A 'new', inherited, high-frequency blood group antigen has been named PEL and is numbered 901014. Two PEL-propositi with anti-PEL have been found, both French-Canadians. Two other French-Canadian propositi with very weak expression of PEL on their red cells have an antibody, provisionally named anti-MTP, which does not react with PEL-cells.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Hemolytic anemia following intravenous gamma globulin administration.

A young homosexual man with immune thrombocytopenia recently had transient intravascular hemolysis during intravenous gamma globulin treatment. The hemolysis, manifested by a sharp decrease in hemoglobin and by a direct Coombs' test with a positive result, was mediated by anti-A antibody present in the gamma globulin preparation. In view of the increasing use of intravenous gamma globulin in the treatment of patients with immune cytopenia, this problem may result in crossmatching difficulties and should be recognized as a potential complication of therapy.

Adult↗